Chapter One: Magical Murder

Tyn McLanders was worried as he hurried down Strickland Street. There was a good reason for his worry as he wasn’t an ordinary man, not by any stretch of the imagination as his armour would attest to. He was a member of the Diorian Military, one of the most well-respected militias in Wyndland. McLanders was a private with the militia. Just a young man, only twenty-three, but he was full of confidence and was hoping that through hard work he would prove himself worthy of promotion. In a modern, large city like Dioria, the second largest in the land, only second to the capital, Castien, one could hope and believe in themselves to the point of success. Up ahead, he saw the destination. There was a group of people milled around an entrance to a building, what looked like a residence. He also saw at least three soldiers ordering people back from the building. He pushed his way through the crowd. This had the feeling that it might be interesting. There was power in the air. “Private McLanders!” a soldier exclaimed in a grunt. It was Sergeant Alstrom, a senior member of the militia. He was old, but then again, anyone over the age of thirty was old to the young private. “Yes sir," Tyn responded respectfully. “What’s going on?” “A mess is what this is!” grumbled the square-jawed Sergeant. “Just what I needed at this time of the day.” The day was dusk. Probably time for the Sergeant to enjoy a drink at his local alehouse. Tyn wondered what kind of mess he was talking about. The crowd that surrounded them and the number of soldiers here suggested that this was a murder of some kind. McLanders was a sharp man that tried to figure things out for himself rather than waiting for his senior officers to tell him. “I assume that someone has been killed?" Alstrom smiled. “You could say that, boy, but you would be both right and wrong.” Confused, the private asked what the Sergeant meant by that. “Doesn’t matter,” replied Alstrom. “Find the Major. He should be in having a drink, which is where I should be!” he grumbled. “Where is that exactly?” “Swords Destiny, its two streets away on Cyndale,” replied the Sergeant. “Now go and find him and hurry. This situation may even require the General. In either case, this is above my pay grade, I’ll tell yer that much, boy. Now go!” And with that, he waved the private away and headed back into the house to attend to whatever secrets the house might contain. McLanders headed back through the crowd at speed, pushing people to the left and right of him, getting a little annoyed.

Whatever this was, it was indeed very important. Alstrom’s reputation as a hard man that gets the job done was very well-known. The fact that he was willing to hand this case over to the Major told great things about exactly how serious this actually was. Tyn had to admit that he really wanted to see who was murdered and as to how they were murdered. But he was a soldier and he followed the chain of command to whichever end that led to. He reached the end of Strickland Street and turned off onto Stone Street. Now that he was some distance from the crime scene he was finding that the excess people was beginning to thin out. He wasn’t having to push people out of his way anymore. In fact, as he looked around he saw very few people on the street. But that wasn’t too surprising. It was dusk, the time for a few drinks at the local. Most men would be in the nearest alehouse, tankard. In fact, the Sergeant had said just that only minutes ago, hadn’t he? Tyn got to the alehouse within a few minutes. Inside the alehouse was very musty with the smell of ale (which made sense). He saw a man in the armour of the Dioren Military sitting up by the bench. The man sitting in the centre was the Major. He might’ve been young and new and very low-ranked, but he knew one of the top officers in this army. All soldiers knew Major Callahan. He was a man of great wisdom, courage and determination. He had the respect of all that served under him. Tyn moved through between the circular tables that scattered throughout the room. Each table was filled with men that were drinking, laughing and some of them were playing cards. Most of them were smoking. He reached the bench where the Major was drinking with three other soldiers. One of the soldiers saw him and must’ve seen a look in his eyes, realising he was here on business and tapped the Major on the shoulder and got his attention. He turned around with his blue eyes squarely on the young private. “Private McLanders?” the major asked, half as a question and half as a statement. Tyn was surprised, to say the slightest. He didn’t think someone in such a high position as the Major would recognise someone such as him. “It is, isn’t it?” Callahan smiled. It was a broad genuine smile full of warmth. “I consider myself good with faces and I think I am right on this occasion, but you didn’t come here for a drink, I don’t think,” his brow furrowed. “Why are you here, Private McLanders?” Tyn told the major what he knew of the situation and he also told him that Sergeant Alstrom sent him here. Callahan got to his feet. “Alstrom isn’t the kind of soldier to call out the brass unless the world is about to crumble around him, son.” He put a hand on Tyn’s armoured shoulder. “You better take me to this house. I think my night might be getting a little more interesting than I had planned.” The Major wasn’t prepared for the crowds gathered around the house. He saw soldiers trying to push back the crowds, but having little success. Sometimes the public could be downright a pain in his shiny metal ass. “YOU PEOPLE NEED TO BACK OFF AND LET MY MEN DO THEIR DUTY!” he hollered at the crowds as he made his way to the front entrance of the residence. “What’s happening in there?” one woman shouted, in near hysterics. “I heard there was ashes in that house!” a man replied. The Major didn’t like where this was going. Not one little bit. There was too much interest in whatever this was. The other problem was he was standing here amongst a crowd of people (and a rather large crowd at that), and he had no real idea as to what he was dealing with. He couldn’t answer their questions even if he wanted to. Sergeant Alstrom came out of the house and looked towards the Major who was looking around at the surrounding people, the birds gawking at this crime scene. The Major didn’t look happy. In fact, he looked very unimpressed to say the least. Alstrom thought he would get it in the neck before this little situation was over. “Major!” he yelled out, getting the senior officers attention. He nodded to him and watched as Callahan walked briskly towards him. “This situation is far from under control, Alstrom.” “Yes, I know.” Callahan smiled ruefully. “That’s your response? That’s it?” “Once you see what we’re dealing with, you will forget all about small things like people clambering around a house, a street.” “Yes, what exactly are we dealing with? I was in the middle of a nice drink. You better have a good reason for pulling me out of that.” Alstrom nodded. “Yes, a very good reason. I feel you may want to get the Colonel involved once you see what’s in this house.” The Major’s face dropped and much of the colour drained from his cheeks. Alstrom knew why. The mere mention of bringing the Colonel into this matter gave complete gravitas to the situation in a way that no other words could possibly do. The Major was a confidant, good, courageous officer. There was no doubting that everyone in this outfit gave their undying respect for the second in command. There was also no denying that the Colonel’s best days were behind him, but he was still the boss. He left most operational matters in Major Callahan’s capable hands and the Sergeant knew personally of at least three occasions where the major had protected the Colonel from the Lord Mayor, although the Lord Mayor had no authority to dismiss him. The Duke of Dioren himself had that power. But if the Lord Mayor had a case, then the Duke would probably follow through on that without so much as a hesitiation. For a moment the Major looked like he was going to be sick and then the colour returned to his face and he nodded. “Yes, well let’s see what we have before I interrupt the boss, shall we, Sergeant?” Alstrom nodded back and led the Major into the house. The front door led straight into a quaint lounge where much of the relaxation of this family would’ve taken place. There was a fireplace and three wooden chairs, two on the left side and one on the right. All the chairs wore cushions for comfort. To the left of the fireplace he saw something that he hadn’t expected to see. Two bodies that appeared to have been burned to a crisp. The flesh was black and in some places only bone remained.

“What in Malkaisis is this?” “Just what it appears to be, Sir,” the Sergeant replied. “We believe these are the occupants of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Stenwick. The only positive out of this is that they had no children, which is a blessing on us I suppose.” Alstrom watched as he saw the Major struggling to come to terms with what he was seeing. It was understandable. This was a part of why he hadn’t let many of the officers in to view the crime scene, including that young McLanders. What they had here was truly malevolent and beyond redemption. He could only hope that they hadn’t suffered, but he suspected that they had. “They were burnt?” Alstrom nodded. “Yes, that would seem to be the case.” He directed the Major’s attention to the wall to the left of the fireplace. There were large scorch marks of black into the wood. “That to me is even more interesting.” “Yes, you're right,” Callahan said stepping forward to take a closer look. “What do you think, Alstrom?” “You really need to ask?” He smiled, although there was no joy to it. “I think you know what I’m going to say.” Callahan nodded. “Indeed. But if this is what it appears to be, then you were right.” “I was?” “Yes, I will have to get the Colonel involved, dammit.” The Major rubbed his hands with his eyes. “Yes, I thought that would be the case.” Callahan nodded. “I won’t be long. Nobody gets in here, not for a single glance until the Colonel decides how we will proceed, is that understood?” Alstrom gave a quick nod of the head, understanding very well how this was going to be played. Perhaps too well.